How to Find Flattering Women's Sunglasses

How to Find Flattering Women's Sunglasses

When it comes to selecting sunglasses, style can be as important as comfort and eye protection. After all, no one wants to wear unflattering sunglasses, no matter how great they are for your eyes. But when purchasing a pair online, it can be tricky to figure out which styles will look best on you.

There are a few different factors to consider when shopping for sunglasses online. First and foremost, you need to know your face shape. This will help you narrow your options down to the style of sunglasses that will best balance and enhance your unique features.

Second, it’s important to know your skin undertone to determine what color frames will make you look luminous – are you warm, cool, or neutral?

Finally, assessing how the glasses will stay on your head based on activity levels and facial structure can help ensure the pair you pick will be as comfortable and functional as they are stylish.

Read on for a thorough guide to finding your perfect pair:

ASSESSING FACE SHAPE

Figuring out your face shape is as easy as looking in the mirror! Take a look at your overall bone structure, paying special attention to the length and width of your face, the angle of your jawline, the point of your chin, and the width of your forehead.

Round Face Shape

Traits: Wide cheekbones, soft, rounded jawline, small forehead; faces have the appearance of being equally tall as they are wide (like a circle)

Best sunglass style: Brow-line or cat-eye glasses and wide, angular or flat-bottomed frames that add structure while lengthening the appearance of your face.

Our picks: Charlie, Quinn, Element, Lyra

Heart-Shaped Face

Traits: Wide forehead, high cheekbones, narrow chin.

Best sunglass style: Large, wide sunglasses will highlight your cheekbones, enhance the jawline and minimize the forehead. Our suggestion: square frames or glasses with sharp corners.

Our picks: Leia, Lennox, Freedom

Square Face Shape

Traits: Broad forehead, strong jawline, wide chin and cheekbones. Face tends to be ‘shorter’ – roughly the same length and width.

Best sunglass style: Rounded sunglasses that are wider than they are deep will have the efect of lengthening the face and softening the angles of the jaw. Rimless styles also work well on this face shape.

Our picks: Luna, Blair, Mira, Talia

Oval Face Shape

Traits: Oval faces are naturally balanced; they will be slightly longer than they are wide with high cheekbones and a jawline that is neither round nor angular.

Best sunglass style: Oval faces look good in most sunglasses, since the facial structure is balanced to begin with. Most flattering are styles that highlight this balance, rather than compete with it, so it’s best to avoid anything too extreme or oversized unless you’re really looking to make a statement.

Our picks: Palmer, Razz, Ace, Hero Aviator

Oblong/Rectangular Face Shape

Traits: These faces are similar to ovals, but elongated, so they tend to be long and narrow with high cheekbones. Oblong faces will have a narrower, more tapered jawline, while rectangular faces are characterized by a strong square jaw.

Best sunglass style: Oblong faces can wear oversized styles in any shape, while rectangular faces should also go big, but stick to more rounded shapes to balance a square jaw. Medium-sized frames can work too.

What these face shapes should avoid? Small glasses and glasses with elongated or teardrop-shaped lenses – both of these styles will overemphasize the length of your face.

Our picks: Halley, Blake, Starr

Diamond Face Shape

Traits: Diamond faces have narrow foreheads, narrow jaws, and wide, high cheekbones.

Best sunglass style: You’ll want to highlight your high, wide cheekbones, and broaden your forehead so any style that accenutates your eyeline is a good fit. You’re one of the few face shapes that can get away with narrower sunglasses, so have fun with futuristic looking shades. Oval shapes, rimless, and cat-eyes also work well on your face.

Our picks: Skye, Ultralite Titanium, Carina

ASSESSING UNDERTONE

Now that you know which shape of sunglasses is the most flattering, it’s time to figure out what color frames and lenses to choose. Undertone is the best tactic for this.

No matter what shade your skin is (pale, medium, dark), it will display the qualities of one of three undertones: warm, cool, or neutral. Warm skin tones have a more golden cast, while cool tones appear rosier. Neutral tones fall somewhere in between. There are a few tactics to find out where your skin falls on the spectrum:

Method 1: the paper test
Stand in front of a mirror in a well-lit room. Hold a piece of pure white printer paper up to your face and see what color you notice most in your skin. Are the pink/rosy tones more prominent? Your skin has a cool undertone. Do you see more yellow? You’re warm. If you can’t tell, you’re probably neutral, but you can try another tactic to be sure.

Method 2: Vein test
Go to a window and look at the veins on the underside of your forearm. If they appear blue, you’re likely cool. If they’re green, you’re more warm. In between or can’t tell? Probably neutral.

Best sunglass colors for warm undertones
You’ll glow in glasses with a yellower cast. For frames, this means gold, tan, olive green, off-white, matte black or warm brown. 

Best sunglass colors for cool undertones
Glasses that have a cool pink/bluish cast will enhance your radiance. For frames, blue, silver, gray, true white or black if your skin is medium-to-dark (black can be overpowering on fair skin).

Best sunglass colors for neutral undertones/universally flattering colors
Tortoise shell frames are a great neutral, as they combine warm brown with cool black. Generally speaking, lighter tortoise shell glasses tend to be more yellow and will accentuate warm tones, while darker tortoise shell glasses have a cooler cast.

Eagle Eyes women’s sunglasses come in multiple colors. Here are some examples of what we suggest for each skin tone within a few of our more popular styles:

Celeste
Green and peach work best for warm skin tones, while cooler tones should opt for the purple. Neutrals will look great in peach as well, since it has both warm and cool elements.

Foldable Flash Aviator
Cool tones can sport either of the silver frames, and warm either of the gold. Neutrals will look good in silver or gold, but should go with the gradient lenses to liven up the complexion.

Morgan
The black frames will look great on cooler skin tones, while tortoise shell will flatter both warm and neutral complexions.

 

ASSESSING TEMPLE FUNCTION

Finally, the last element to consider is the style of temple you’ll need to keep your glasses seated comfortably on your face. There are two main temple styles to consider: skull and straight back.

Most Eagle Eyes styles feature skull temples – side pieces with a slight bend at the end to comfortably nestle behind the ears. Skull temples are versatile and good for everyday wear, but those engaging in activities requiring a lot of head movement should opt for more specialized sport and utility glasses.

Top Eagle Eyes Skull Temple Women’s Sunglasses:
Mira, Larissa, Rebel

Straight-back: also known as “bayonet” temples, these sunglasses do what it sounds like they do: shoot straight back. This style works best for lightweight glasses that need to be taken on and off quickly, or worn over helmets.

Top Eagle Eyes Straight-Back Temple Women’s Sunglasses:
Force, Gemstone II, Blake

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And while looking good is important, it’s also great to know that all of Eagle Eyes’ sunglasses are created with optimal vision protection in mind. Our polarized sunglasses feature our signature TriLenium® Lenses, which were developed from original NASA-optic technology to block blue light and 99% of UVA and UVB rays.